This Energy Information Administration (EIA) report shows that monthly U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions were the lowest that they've been since 1973 in April 2020 due to travel restrictions and other measures implemented to reduce the spread of COVID19. From March to April 2020, CO2 emissions from petroleum consumption decreased 25%, and CO2 emissions from coal consumption decreased 16%. Both changes resulted in the lowest monthly CO2 emission values on record for those fuels. Energy-related CO2 emissions from natural gas consumption decreased 17% between March and April 2020. However, unlike CO2 emissions from petroleum and coal, which reached record lows, CO2 emissions from natural gas in April 2020 were 22% greater than the previous April, largely because natural gas-fired power plants gained market share in the U.S. electric power sector.
U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Monthly U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions in April were the lowest in decades", contributed by Morgan Sarao, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 31 August 2020, accessed 19 April 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/monthly-us-energy-related-co2-emissions-april-were-lowest-decades
Critical Commentary
This Energy Information Administration (EIA) report shows that monthly U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions were the lowest that they've been since 1973 in April 2020 due to travel restrictions and other measures implemented to reduce the spread of COVID19. From March to April 2020, CO2 emissions from petroleum consumption decreased 25%, and CO2 emissions from coal consumption decreased 16%. Both changes resulted in the lowest monthly CO2 emission values on record for those fuels. Energy-related CO2 emissions from natural gas consumption decreased 17% between March and April 2020. However, unlike CO2 emissions from petroleum and coal, which reached record lows, CO2 emissions from natural gas in April 2020 were 22% greater than the previous April, largely because natural gas-fired power plants gained market share in the U.S. electric power sector.